Of Cookies and Hats
by underthegreensward
Summary: Their first Christmas together, with cookies, gifts and kisses.


**A/N:** This is my present to all of you. Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Enjoy.

* * *

Paige can't feel her hands and isn't sure how she is going to let go of the handlebars yet, but she can't find a reason to care either. In a minute she will be standing in front of her girlfriend's house, on Christmas, so her hands can freeze to her bike for all that she cares. After breakfast, church and lunch, she used the first chance she had to leave, forgetting her gloves and scarf, rushing out of the house.

She can't wait to give Emily her gift and starts pedaling faster.

When she arrives, her fingers slip of her bike easily, but she can't ring the doorbell. Staring at it, she finally uses her nose to push the button. Seconds later, the door opens and she is pulled into a tight hug. "Finally. I missed you." Paige smiles into Emily's shoulder, hugging her back and inhaling deeply. She smells like cookies and hot chocolate. "We saw each other yesterday, Em." She says with a laugh, but she knows what Emily means. She missed her too.

"Too long.", Emily murmurs and Paige pulls back to kiss her nose. Scrunching her nose up, Emily leans in to leave a kiss on Paige's lips, before cuddling into her again. They stand there on the front porch until they both shiver and Emily drags her inside.

She walks them into the living room and pushes Paige onto the couch. "Stay here, I'll be right back." With that she disappears and Paige can hear her running up the stairs. Letting her bag slip to the floor, Paige looks around the room. A small Christmas tree is set up next to the TV, decorated with red and gold ornaments. It's simple but beautiful and she can see her own reflection in one of the bulbs. She looks happy.

"Merry Christmas, Paige." She turns to her side and sees Emily's mom standing next to the couch. "Oh, hi, Mrs. Fields. Merry Christmas." Feeling the blood rush to her ears, she musters the biggest smile she has. Pam sits down next to her and offers a plate full of cookies. "Try these. I made them with Emily earlier." Reaching for one with her still frozen fingers, Paige says a quick "Thanks." and takes a bite.

"Those are really good, Mrs. Fields." she mumbles around a mouthful of cookie and shoves the rest into her mouth, not knowing what else to do. "You make her happy, you know?" Paige forgets to chew and looks at Pam with wide eyes. "I'm just saying that, as long as you do, you're more than welcome here." She swallows and smiles at the ground, her heart warming.

"Thank you." She isn't planning to do anything else. Pam squeezes her shoulder when she looks up again, giving her a warm smile and another cookie. "Mom, you're not telling her anything embarrassing, are you?" Emily shouts from the bottom of the stairs. Sending Paige another smile, Pam gets up and walks past Emily with the words "I would never."

Emily squints after her until she's in the kitchen, before she lets herself fall down onto the couch, dropping two packages to her side. "What did she do?" There's a mix of concern and fear on her face and Paige has to take her hand to tug her closer. "She gave me cookies." Emily narrows her eyes, pulling Paige's hands between her own and into her lap. "That's it?" Paige can't stop her smile from growing bigger. "No. She said that as long as I make you happy, I'm welcome here."

Relaxing with a soft "Oh.", Emily grins. "Good thing that I'm really happy right now." Paige smiles and nods. "Yeah, really good thing." Lifting one hand, Emily wipes the corner of Paige's mouth with her thumb. "Did you like the cookies?" Moving her head to kiss Emily's thumb, she nods again and pulls Emily into her arms.

"Not as much as like you, though." Emily laughs into her neck and presses a kiss to it. They lie there for a while, trading lazy kisses and loving smiles.

"You know, I still didn't give you your presents." Emily murmurs against her lips between kisses and Paige swears the size of heart doubles. "Yeah, I know. You didn't get yours yet, either.", she answers and gives Emily a kiss. "You wanna exchange them now?" Another kiss. "Sure." Another kiss. "Okay." More kisses. "Good." And some more kisses.

Paige finds herself forgetting about the presents and starts covering Emily's face in a thousand tiny pecks instead. "Paige. Paige, please, I want to give you your gift." Kissing her again, Paige tries her best to pull back from Emily's lips. "Okay, okay, sorry." Actually, she's not really sorry and steals one last kiss with a grin.

Then she leans back and reaches for her bag, pulling it into her lap. "No, you first." Emily stops her, handing her something wrapped in red and white striped paper. It is light and soft and Paige frowns. She unwraps it carefully and glancing at Emily, who looks like she's the one getting a present.

It's a hat, complete with ears flaps and braids. "Try it on." She does and is sure she looks stupid. "You look really cute.", Emily states and tugs at the braids to reach Paige's lips. And suddenly she doesn't care if she looks stupid. Not when Emily is kissing her like that..

"That's not your real present though. I saw it when I went shopping with Hanna and it was so cute, I just had to buy it. Besides, you're always complaining about your cold ears." she says, twirling the braids around her fingers.

"I'm not." Emily lifts one eyebrow and fixes her with a stare. "Maybe sometimes. Fine, I do it a lot." She is pulled forward again, getting kissed with a grin. When Emily sits back again, Paige keeps her eyes closed, hoping for another kiss. Instead, she something is pressed into her hands.

Sighing, she opens her eyes. The wrapping paper is the same, but the gift is smaller, a hard, flat square and when she looks at Emily she sees her gnawing on her bottom lip. She unwraps it a little bit less carefully this time, revealing a jewelry box. Paige holds her breath as she struggles to open it.

A simple black leather bracelet lies inside, an equally simple heart-shaped pendant attached to it. Not knowing what to say or do, she studies the way the Christmas lights glint in the blank silver of the heart.

"Here, give me your hand." Offering Emily her right wrist, Paige can't take her eyes off the bracelet. "There you go." Raising her arm, she twists it and finally looks at Emily. "It's beautiful. Thank you." It's not more than a whisper, but Emily hears her and presses her lips to her forehead. "You're welcome."

"Your turn." Paige feels her heart pound in her throat when she gives Emily her gift. It's neatly wrapped in green paper, the neat part because she redid it until it looked perfect. Emily takes her time to unwrap it, so much time that it feels like she is taking forever.

The box in it is flat and in the shape of a rectangle and Emily shoots her a glance before opening it. She hears Emily inhale sharply and hopes that's a good sign. Lifting the necklace out of the box, Emily gazes at the heart that dangles from it. It's similar to the one on Paige's bracelet, almost the same.

"Help me put it on." she says and turns around. Paige brushes the hair to one side, secures the clasp with trembling fingers and kisses the base of Emily's neck. And then Emily is kissing her, soft lips and warm hands and she doesn't know how she survived so many days with out kissing Emily.

Leaning her forehead against Emily's, she feels her heartbeat calm and smiles. "Do you like it?" Emily nods, grasping the braids on Paige's hat again. "It's perfect. Thank you." She presses their lips together again. "'Welcome."

Emily slides to the end of the couch, reaches down and slips Paige's shoes off. Then, she presses Paige down and snuggles into her chest.

"Merry Christmas." Smiling into Emily's hair, she leaves a kiss in it and glances at her wrist. Her hold on Emily tightens and she falls just a little bit further for her.

"Merry Christmas."

She can't wait to spend her Christmas mornings with Emily.


End file.
